Bottle for preventing the fraudulent refilling of same.



PATENTED MAR. 21, 19.05.

M. R. GREEN. BOTTLE FOR PREVENTING THE FRAUDULENT REFILLING 0F SAME.

APPLIDATIQH FILED D E0.7,1903.

V/ZIZZLOSISQQ,

1 NITED STATES Patented March 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

BOTTLE FOR PREVENTING THE FRAUDULENT REFILLING OF SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 785,357, dated March21, 1905.

Application filed December 7, 1903. Serial No. 184,237.

To (10 1071,0771 it may concern:

Be it known that I, MEREDITH ROBERTS -GREEN, a subject of His BritannicMajesty Edward VII, residing at Kensington Park, in the State of SouthAustralia, Australia, (whose post-office address is as above,) haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottles to Prevent theFraudulent Refilling of the Same; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in bottles to prevent thefraudulent refilling of the same, the special object of the inventionbeing to provide a means whereby fraudulent refilling can be prevented;but the valve-gear and other parts arranged for this purpose, whileopposing the inflow of the liquid, will nevertheless enable the contentsof the bottle to be readily poured out.

The use of a weighted valve in bottles for the purpose indicated isalready well known and has been repeatedly specified; but according tomy invention two separate and distinct weighted valves are used, and itis important that the valves shall be provided with a tube or itsequivalent, so that the ulti mate point of flow or exposure to the aireither upward or downward is effectively on a difierent level to that ofthe opposite valve.

Instead of using separate tubes in themanufacture of my invention theparts containing the valve-seats may be formed from a solid casting, andthe equivalents of the tubes can be cored or bored out.

I will now proceed to describe my invention by aid of the accompanyingillustrative drawings, in which Figures 1, 2, and 3 illustrate the neckportion of the bottle with my improvements applied thereto, the severalfigures showing al- In the drawings, a is the neck of the bottle, intowhich the thimble or body I) is fitted, the bottom of the thimble beingclosed in by the floor or plate c, as in Figs. 1 and 3, or alternativelythe body of the thimble may be cored out, as in Fig. 2.

d is an extension-frame which supports a ring 6, as shown in Fig. 1,said ring being made of wood, metal, or non-corrosive material. The ringis preferably beveled inward toward the top.

At f and g valve-seats are formed for the accommodation, respectively,of the valves h and These valves may be of any convenient design but asimple valve having a short extension, as shown, will give good resultsfor the purpose of my invention. The valves are respectively for thepassage of liquid and air, and the area of the latter may be muchsmaller than that of the former.

In Fig. 1, 7c is a flexible wire or cord the upper ends of which areattached to the valve extensions, while the lower portion supports theweight Z, which is fastened thereto. Above the valve 7L, which is usedfor the delivery of the liquid, an extension-tube m or its equivalent isarranged, thereby isolating the said valve from the valve 1', abovementioned. In Fig. 3 the extension-frame is dispensed with and twoseparate weights are 'used and in their normal position lie opposite tothe curved edge of the base of the neck.

In Fig. 2 the bottom part of the thimble is formed solid, and passagesfor the liquid and air are bored or cored out. It will, however, benoted that although the relative positions of the inlet and outlet arereversed they are nevertheless on different levels.

The thimble, which is preferably oval in shape, as shown in Figs. 4 and5, is inserted in the neck of the bottle together with the parts abovedescribed and is secured in place by cement, sealing-wax, or other means:20, for which purpose it may be ribbed or roughened, as at y, to afforda firmer holding. The cork of the bottle is inserted in the upperportion of the thimble, as shown at 71, but in such a manner as not tointerfere with the valves, and is sealed and capsuled or otherwiseprevented from being tampered with. If so desired, the thimble can bemade to pro ect slightly above the neck of the bottle, and forconvenience of pouring the liquid a small lip may be formed thereon. Apin 0 is passed through the thimble, as shown, and serves as a guard toprevent the valves from being tampered with.

' From Fig. 1 it will be noted that the position of the weight connectedwith the valves is such that it lies a little below the beveled ring e;but it will readily be understood that when the bottle is in anabsolutely inverted position this weight by falling into the ring allowsthe valves to open; but .while the bottle is on its side the slope ofthe bevel assists 1n causing the weight to draw the valves downward,thereby retaining them in a closed position. I find that if the weightsare so positioned that they come into con tact with the neck of thebottle at its curved base, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the ring maybe dispensed with; but it will be obvious that if the ring 6 andextension-frame d are made to a standard size much trouble may be savedby enabling a corresponding standard length of wire or cord to be usedthroughout for supporting the weight instead of rendering it necessaryfor cords to be ad usted, so that the weights will be positionedaccording to the many and differing sizes of bottles in commercial use.

The action of my appliance is as follows: When the bottle is in itsnormal position, the weight shown in Fig. 1 causes the valves to remainclosed, and until the bottle is absolutely inverted, or at least untilthe bottle is sufliclently inverted to allow the weight to rest 1n theupper portion of the inverted ring, the valves will prevent the outflowof the liquid; but as soon as the valves have been released by theweight the liquid will freely flow out through the valve a, while theair Wlll pass through the opposite valve 1' and prevent a vacuum frombeing formed in the bottle.

I have already specially emphasized the fact in the preamble of thisspecification that the use of a weighted valve is not new; but

the use of two valves acting in conjunction with each other, one for theflow of the liquid and the other for the passage of the air, (the levelof the inlet and the outlet being different,) does not appear to havehitherto been adopted in the manner indicated, and I would have itunderstood that the arrangement of a tube or its equivalent inconnection with the valve, whereby the difference of levels is obtained,is a very important feature for securing success in this invention; buta somewhat satisfactory result may be obtained by separating the valveswith a division-plate.

Having now particularly described and J ascertained the nature of mysaid invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declarethat what I claim is 1. In a device of the character described athimble, comprising abody portion, a plurality of openings therethrough,a valve disposed in each opening, a retaining-plate for said valves anda weight on each valve, and means for securing the thimble in a bottle.

2. In a device of the character described, a thimble comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of longitudinal openings therethrough, terminatingin different planes, a valve disposed in each opening, a retaining-platefor said valves and a weight on each valve, and means for securing thethimble in a bottle.

3. In a device of the character described, a thimble comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of longitudinal openings of different diameterstherethrough, a valve disposed in each opening, a retaining-plate foreach valve, and a weight on each valve, and means for securing thethimble in a bottle.

4. In a device of the character described, a thimble, comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of openings therethrough, a valve disposed in eachopening, a retaining-plate for said valves, a weight for each valve, andmeans disposed adjacent to said valves to prevent tampering therewith,and means for securing the thimble in a bottle.

5. In a device of the character described, a thimble, comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of openings therethrough, a valve disposed in eachopening, a retaining-plate for said valves, a weight for each valve, anda pin passed transversely above the valves, and means for securing thethimble in a bottle.

6. In a device of the character described, a thimble comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of openings therein terminating in differentplanes, a valve disposed in each opening, a perforated retaining-platefor the valves, a weight, an extension on the body portion of thethimble having an opening therethrough, a flexible connection to thevalves passing through the latter opening and connected to the saidweight, and means for securing the thimble to a bottle.

7. In a device of the character described, a thimble, comprising a bodyportion, a plurality of openings therein terminating in differentplanes, a valve disposed in each opening, a perforated retaining-platefor the valves, a weight, an extension on said body portion of thethimble havingabeveled opening therethrough, a flexible connection tothe valves passing through said latter opening and connected to theweight, whereby said weight will be seated in the latter opening, andmeans for securing the thimble in a bottle.

8. In a device of the character described, a thimble, comprising a bodyportion, an extension thereon adapted to receive a stopper, a pluralityof openings in the thimble terminating in different planes, a valvedisposed in each opening, a perforated retaining-plate for the valves, aweight, an extension on the lower body portion of the thimble having anopening therethrough, a flexible connection to the valves passingthrough the latter opening and connected to the weight, and means forsecuring the thimble in abottle.

9. In a device of the character described, an oval-shaped thimble,comprising a body portion, a plurality of openings therethroughterminating in different planes, a valve disposed in each opening, aperforated retaining-plate for the valves, a weight, an extension onsaid body portion of the thimble having an opening therethrough, aflexible connection to the valves passing through said latter openingand connected to the weight, and means for securing the thimble in abottle, comprising corrugations on the upper portion of the thimble anda body of cemen-

